The changes at the Lido have been shocking but I thought that we were through the worst...not so, I'm afraid. We arrived at the Lido this week to find that our beloved CP Air tea cups, complete with saucers, had been replaced by white coffee mugs. To be sure, they have a certain square-round little handle that sort of reminds me of plastic camping mugs we used to have in our trailer when I was a kid, but more ambiance has been lost.
It's just wrong not having the tea cups. For the longest time, we had assumed they were from the days of passenger service on the CPR. This misconception was corrected by a room-mate of mine who recognized them as CP Air. A couple of the Lidonians, including myself, had procured one of these tea cups (mine was a gift) and I'm glad that it's sitting proudly in my china cabinet beside my Alexander Keith s mug and RAF tea cup to remind me of better days.
Soon the Lido will be another trendy Kensington shop that has lost all the qualities the Lidonians once loved about it. I think it might be time to start archiving the Lido as it once was.